If you're looking for something to do with the kids or just want to get yourself into the festive spirit, why not try making these fun and festive edible baubles?

Round up the family and get creative in the kitchen this Christmas by making some biscuits.

You can then turn your festive bakes into tree decorations which are so much nicer than a few foil-wrapped chocs melting amid the lights, and they'll also be cute, classy and utterly delicious.

Step 1: Making the biscuits...

First things first, you need to make your biscuits. These wonderful creations are based on the Biscuiteers recipe - and if you’ve ever tried a Biscuiteer biscuit, you’ll know why.

They’re delicious, look beautiful and will last up to one month, even when left to hang on a twinkling Christmas tree.

Plain biscuit recipe (Makes 24 biscuits)

Ingredients:

350g plain flour

100g self-raising flour

125g granulated sugar

125g salted butter, diced

125g golden syrup

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Method:

1. Sift the flours together into a mixing bowl, add the sugar and mix well.

2. Add the butter. Using just the tips of your fingers, rub the ingredients together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

3. When all the butter is evenly mixed in, make a well in the centre and add the syrup and the egg. Mix well, drawing in any of the flour left at the sides of the bowl and stop as soon as a ball has formed.

4. Place the dough onto your clean worktop. Divide into two and squash the dough into two even-sized flat discs. Cover and chill until ready to use, or roll out immediately.

5. To roll the dough, place it onto a sheet of parchment, cover with a second sheet and use a rolling pin to roll it properly until it is 5mm thick all over. Transfer the whole sheet (still sandwiched between parchment) to a baking tray and place in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes before cutting.

6. Cut your biscuits carefully using cutters and save the trimmings to be re-rolled.

7. Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 4.

8. Cut a hole at the top of each biscuit with the end of a drinking straw before baking. Evenly spread the cut biscuits on a baking tray and bake for 14-18 minutes.

9. Cool the biscuits on cooling racks completely before either icing, storing or eating, but be careful, as they will be fragile and hot!

Step 2: The ultimate icing...

You can get creative in the kitchen with these fun festive edible baubles

Now this is where things get tricky, but it will be worth it. The icing on these biscuits is divinely decorative and, therefore, a little bit complicated, but patience and practice are all you need.

Start off by making a basic royal icing, then you’ll tweak it slightly in order to create the line icing (this is used for your outlines, creating pattern and detail, while stopping the other icing spilling over the edges) and flooding icing (the larger area of icing on top of the biscuit).

Royal Icing (Makes enough for 24 biscuits)

You’ll need about a third of this recipe to make your line icing and the remaining two-thirds for the flooding icing.

Ingredients:

4 pasteurised egg whites

900g icing sugar

Method:

1. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and whisk or beat for about five minutes if using an electric beater or whisk, and longer if using a wooden spoon.

2. Continue until the ingredients form a thick, smooth paste that is bright white in colour and has the consistency of toothpaste.

3. If you’re not using immediately, cover the surface of the icing with cling film to stop it drying out, and refrigerate.

Line Icing

Check the picture to see how many colours of line icing you need and then divide up the royal icing. Spoon required amounts into clean little bowls.

If you’re using gel colours, use the tip of a cocktail stick to add a tiny amount of the gel to the icing. Stir the gel into the icing until it is totally mixed in and you see the resulting colour.

Slowly add more gel, stirring well between additions, until the colour has reached the shade that you need. It is worth taking the colouring process slowly, as a little gel colour goes a very long way!

Cover the surface of the icing with cling film and chill each bowl as you make it, until you have all the colours that you need for the collection.

Flooding Icing

1. Place your royal icing in a large bowl, gradually add enough water, a few drops at a time, stirring constantly until you have a smooth, just pourable mixture that has roughly the same consistency as custard.

2. Repeat the colouring process with the flooding icing. Look at your designs and count up the number of shades of flooding icing needed. Divide up the mixture, leaving a little spare white icing, just in case you need to make any extra later.

3. When you have finished, cover the surface of each icing with cling film as soon as you have mixed it, so that the icing does not start to go hard at the edges, and chill until ready to use.

Step 3: Creating your masterpieces...

Once your icing and biscuits are ready to go, it’s time to get creative.

You’ll want to pop your line icing into piping bags (two-thirds full, end snipped off, so you’re creating a line that’s around a millimetre thick) and your flooding icing into squeezy bottles (you can use a spoon but it will take longer and be messier).

Study the biscuit and icing you want to copy, then take the line icing and pipe on your outline. It’s a good idea to have a few goes on parchment paper first, until you have got the pressure right. Make sure your piping bag is twisted and held tight and keep the pressure on throughout. The higher you lift your hand, the more control you have over the line. And stop squeezing before you reach the very end, touching down on the biscuit at each join. This is tricky, but you’ll find yourself getting better the more you do. Be sure to go around the hole with line icing, too.

Once you’ve completed your lines, your first biscuit should be dry enough for the flooding icing. This is the easy - and surprisingly calming - part.Choose your colour then squeeze the bottle to release the icing into the area you need it, and swirl it around, using the nozzle to fill the space. If there are any tricky corners, use the tip of a cocktail stick to eke it out to the edge.You can also try out some simple but stunning effects at this stage, such as blobbing another colour of flooding icing around a bauble biscuit, then taking a cocktail stick and drawing a line through the middle of them.

Once all the biscuits are flooded, they need to dry properly, which means popping them in a low oven for 30-45 minutes - 50C or gas mark 0.5 is fine for this.

Once they’re dry, take them out of the oven and make the finishing touches.

Use the line icing to go over any detailing, and there you have it - amazingly professional-looking biscuits, simply requiring a thin bit of ribbon to be slotted through the hole, tied together and hung on the Christmas tree, or given as a very lovely gift.

...P.S. - if you don’t have the time or energy, you can cheat and buy a Christmas Tree Decorations Biscuit Tin, which contains 16 ready-made Biscuiteer beauties, £39.50 at www.biscuiteers.com

Biscuiteers Book Of Iced Biscuits by Harriet Hastings & Sarah Moore is published by Kyle Books, priced £12.99 and is available now.

Icing classes are also available at Biscuiteers boutiques. For more information, visit www.biscuiteers.com